25.10.2019

Another arborist fatality

A man has died after he was catapulted out of the bucket truck / platform he was working from in Inman, to the north east of Greenville, South Carolina on Wednesday.

The man, named as Lewis ‘Buck’ McDonald, 59, of Buck Tree Service, was cutting down a tree for a neighbour and had apparently attached two limbs or tree sections to his platform with a rope, the rope broke causing a rapid unloading force on the boom which catapulted him from the platform. He fell around five to six metres and died at the scene from his injuries.

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The bucket truck was not damaged in the incident which took the life of Buck McDonald

The local coroner said: “The deceased man was working from a bucket truck, which along with other equipment was part of a tree cutting job that was taking place when his death occurred, he was not wearing a harness.”

The coroner’s office is working with the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office to investigate the incident.

Those who know McDonald well have said that he was a very knowledgeable and safety conscious individual, and that he usually wore a harness and lanyard when working from his bucket truck. Tragically this incident occurred while he was not wearing one.
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The late Lewis ‘Buck’ McDonald at work